(October 16, 2009) Future Of Taiwan Should Be Determined With The Express Consent Of The People Of Taiwan / 美國眾議員提出決議案，支持台灣前途應獲得台灣人民同意

Future Of Taiwan Should Be Determined With The Express Consent Of The People Of Taiwan

House Armed Services Committee member and a long-time friend of Taiwan, Congressman Robert Andrews (D-NJ), introduced House Concurrent Resolution 200 last night “expressing the sense of Congress regarding the freedom, security, and stability of Taiwan.”

The resolution concludes that it is the sense of Congress that– (1) grave concerns exist concerning the continued deployment by the People’s Republic of China of over 1400 ballistic missiles directed toward Taiwan, which threaten the security and stability in the Taiwan Strait; (2) the President should seek a public and unequivocal renunciation from the leaders of the People’s Republic of China of any threat or use of force against Taiwan; (3) the future of Taiwan should be determined free from coercion by the People’s Republic of China, peacefully, and with the express consent of the people of Taiwan.

The resolution highlights China’s coercion and increasing military threat against Taiwan and refers to the latest Pentagon report on the Chinese military power and to the passage by China of the anti-secession law in 2005 that drew a severe rebuke from the U.S. Congress.

The 2009 Pentagon Report warns that the People’s Liberation Army’s military modernization “could in the future be used to pressure Taiwan toward a settlement of the cross-Strait dispute on Beijing’s terms while simultaneously attempting to deter, delay, or deny any possible U.S. support for the island in case of conflict.”

The House of Representatives characterized the China’s passage of the Anti-Secession Law at the time as “a unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.”

The resolution also invokes pertinent sections of the Taiwan Relations Act, “which is the cornerstone of United States-Taiwan relations,” which reaffirms the U.S. commitment to Taiwan’s security.

FAPA President Bob Yang, Ph.D. states, “The fact that Rep. Andrews is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee adds to the relevance and importance of this resolution. Taiwan’s security interests are intricately interwoven with those of the U.S. in the region.”

Yang continues, “In addition to the military threat, China is now also gaining tremendous economic leverage over Taiwan. China’s dual strategy of economic and military coercion to compel Taiwan into submission has alarmed many Taiwan supporters in the U.S. Congress.”

Dr. Yang concludes: “The missiles that China has targeted at the 23 million peace-loving people of Taiwan are the equivalent of China putting a gun to the heads of the people of Taiwan. They are the clearest and strongest indicator of China’s real intentions vis-à-vis Taiwan. The people of Taiwan live under a constant dark cloud of threats, intimidation and harassment. It is not only high time that Beijing remove its missiles, it is time that the people of Taiwan be able to determine their own future free from fear.”